ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
New national overseas scholarship policy.
Department of Social Justice & Empowerment has been implementing National Overseas scholarship Scheme for SC etc. students .
Department of Social Justice and Empowerment reviews the NOS scheme guidelines from time to time and makes changes for simplifying the procedures and to make the process more transparent. Since there is greater demand for study in science and technology fields, in order to better utilise the resources, scholarships can be prioritized for those subjects in greater demand. The fields of study where India has strength or where the field work is to be done in India can be left out of the list. Accordingly, topics/courses concerning Indian Culture, Heritage, History& Social studies on India will not be considered for award of scholarships from 2022-23 onwards, whereas other Humanities/Social Sciences which need international exposure such as Law, Economics, Psychology etc. are still available for funding. This change has provided more opportunities for the poor SC students to study in global best universities.
Thus, there is no New National Overseas Scholarship Policy and the existing National Overseas Scholarship scheme for SCs etc. will continue to be implemented by this Department with guidelines as revised recently.
NOS scheme guidelines of the DoSJE, "30% of the awards for each year shall be earmarked for women candidates". No change has been made to this clause of the scheme guidelines and therefore, the changes are unlikely to affect selection of female applicants.
The tenure of the members of National Monitoring Committee , except the ex-officio nominees was three years w.e.f 21.06.2012 and expired on 20.06.2015 and the meeting of next NMC which was re-constituted on 17.07.2018 could not be held. Hence, the ATR on the recommendations of the Task Force could not be placed before the reconstituted NMC.
This information was given by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri A. Narayanswamy in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Tourism
Cabinet approves MoU between India and Croatia in the field of tourism
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its ex-post facto approval on the Memorandum of Understanding  between India and Croatia in the field of tourism.
The MoU in the field of Tourism will help the two parties in creating an institutional mechanism for enhancing cooperation in the tourism sector.
The MoU has been signed on 26 March, 2019 during the visit of President of India to Croatia.
Special Service and Features
BIS OFFICIALS RAIDS A TOY SHOP HAMLEYS, RELIANCE BRANDS LIMITED, EXPRESS AVENUE MALL, CHENNAI- YESTERDAY NIGHT–HUGE QUANTITIES OF TOYS WITHOUT ISI MARK SEIZED
A team of Officials from Bureau of Indian Standards , Chennai Branch Office, Southern Regional Office, Chennai 600 113 conducted an Enforcement Search and Seizure operation on 17 January 2023 NIGHT at M/s Hamleys, Reliance Brands Limited, Express Avenue Mall, Royapettah, Chennai based on an information of suspected violation of BIS Act, 2016.
During the operation, A total of 1466 Nos. of toys including both 496 electrical and 970 non-electrical toys such as stuffed toys, legos, moulding clay, Remote control toys without BIS Standard Mark  were seized.
Action is being initiated by BIS, Chennai Branch Office – I against the offender under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016. The offence is punishable with imprisonment up to two years or a fine not less than Rs. 2,00,000/- but may extend up to ten times the value of goods or articles produced or sold or offered to be sold or affixed or applied with a Standard Mark or both as per Section 29 of BIS Act, 2016 for first Contravention.
General public are, therefore, requested that in case they come across any instances of Misuse of ISI Mark the same may be intimated to the BIS Southern Regional Office, CIT Campus, 4th Cross Road, Taramani, Chennai-600 113. Such complaints can also be made by using the BIS Care App or by sending an E-Mail to cnbo1@bis.gov.in. The source of such information would be strictly kept confidential. BIS Website www.bis.gov.in and e-BIS  may be browsed for general information on BIS.
For More information on the Raid, kindly Contact Smt.G.Bhavani, Scientist-E/Director & Head,Chennai Branch Office, BIS, at Mobile : 9443243712 , According to the press release issued by H.Ajay Khanna Deputy Director .
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Ministry of Tourism
M/o Tourism Streamlines Hotel Classification Guidelines to Make Them Simple, Transparent and Time Bound
Ministry of Tourism has streamlined the Hotel classification guidelines to make them simple, transparent and time bound. The application for classification and payments of fees have been made through digital platform only and the prevalent options of application by post and payment of fees by Demand Draft has been done away with. This has ensured the eradication of possibility of delay/manipulation caused by human interference.
Similarly, the time limit for ensuring compliances on deficiencies of a hotel, the prevalent system had an open ended scope without any prescribed time limit. The recent amendments have included a time limit of three months, thus removing any discretion in the matter. This will ensure a time bound compliance and speedy disposal of cases.
The amendments have made it clear that liquor shops/liquor stores in the premises of the hotel other than bars will not be considered for classification under star hotels "with alcohol" category, to remove any ambiguity.
It has been made mandatory for all the hotels classified under all categories to display their classification status prominently at the reception and on their websites under a separate icon on the opening page, which will display the order of classification issued by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
The amendments have included a detailed timeline within which the classification has to be completed. In every case where the required documents and procedures are fulfilled, the classification will be completed within 90 days. Event wise time limits  have been fixed to ensure that all the cases with no deficiency /compliance issues can be classified within 90 days of the date of application.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
ECGC Limited
ECGC Limited was set up in 1957 in Mumbai under the Companies Act 1956 to provide export credit insurance services to exporters and banks to promote and support exports from India.
The performance details of ECGC for the last three financial years and current year are given below:

|
|
Financial Year
|
|
2017-18
|
|
2018-19
|
|
2019-20
|
|
April-June 2020
|
|
Amount of claims paid
|
|
1,283.17
|
|
1,013.31
|
|
408.41|
|
202.41
|
|
Premium received amount
|
|
1 ,240.42
|
|
1,247.54
|
|
1075.41
|
|
170.39As the documentation for the year 2019-20 was not available by 31st March,2020, claims paid are lower.
ECGC services/products include export credit insurance policies for exporters, export credit insurance for banks and medium & long term project exports, factoring scheme for MSMEs and Micro & Small Exporter Policies. Additionally, ECGC is the managing agency of the National Export Insurance Account  Trust that enables Government of India to support Project exports in the national interest.
The capital infused by the Government of India in the company, against which shares are issued to the Government of India, is utilized to enhance the capital base of the company. The underwriting capacity is derived from the capital base, based on which ECGC generates income from business operations and pays dividend to the Government.
ECGC has signed 48 MoUs with similar overseas institutions, aimed at regular exchange of information and best practices, deliberations/exchange of ideas on export credit insurance issues and identification of areas and projects of mutual interest. Recently, as part of its commitment under an MOU signed with Credit Oman, ECGC has provided consultancy services to the latter for improvement of their systems and products and earned USD 75,000 as consultancy fee.
The Government of India has infused equity capital to the tune of ₹1,410 crore in ECGC over a period of three years from FY 2017-18 to FY 2019-20 to support a higher volume of export credit insurance, including for exports to emerging and challenging markets. The performance of ECGC is monitored through the various indicators of MoU, which is signed between ECGC and Department of Commerce.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Culture
ASI celebrates World Heritage day across Telangana
Heritage walk organized at Ramappa Temple in Palampet
Academic sessions on Archeology, Culture and Heritage held at PSTU
Photo exhibition on Ramappa temple at GITAM University
The Hyderabad Circle of the Archeological Survey of India held various events across the state to commemorate the World Heritage day. Aimed at enhancing awareness about conserving and preserving our legacy from the past, the World Heritage day is celebrated on the 18th of April annually across the globe.
In Telangana, a heritage walk was held at Ramappa temple which was declared as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO last year. District Collector of the Mulugu district, Shri Krishna Aditya participated as the Chief Guest in the event organized by ASI Warangal sub circle & ASI Hyderabad circle. About 800 years old, the Ramappa temple which is also known as Rudreshswara temple, was built by the Kakatiya Rulers and is perhaps the only temple in the country to be named after its chief architect, Ramappa.
District Collector of the Mulugu district addressing the gathering and taking part in Heritage Walk
Academic sessions on Archeology, Culture and Heritage of Telangana were held at the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University . Chairing the morning session, the Superintending Archeologist of ASI, Dr. Smita S Kumar said that raising of public awareness through these programmes would strengthen the efforts to preserve the monuments for posterity. After the inaugural address of Prof. Bhattu Ramesh, Registrar of PTSU, a paper on ‘Deccan Cannons - The neglected Beauties’ was presented by Dr S Jai Kishan. The academic sessions were well attended by students of PTSU, Nizam College, Bhavans College, OU Archaeology Department Students.
Academic Session chaired by ASI Superintending Archaeologist DrSmitha S Kumar
A photo Exhibition on Ramappa Temple and screening of short films on culture and heritage of Telangana was held at GITAM University campus of Hyderabad.
A photo Exhibition on Ramappa Temple and screening of short films at GITAM University
April 18thwas adopted as the World Heritage Day or the International Day for Monuments and Sites by UNESCO based on a proposal by the Paris-based International Council on Monuments and Sites. The ASI under the Ministry of Culture have held many events today to commemorate the World heritage day.
The ASI had made entry free at all its historical monuments today.
Ministry of Finance
RBI guidelines for agencies to deposit money in ATMs
Reserve Bank of India  vide its guidelines issued on 6.4.2018 on ‘Cash Management activities of the banks - Standards for engaging the Service Provider and its sub-contractor’, advised banks to put in place certain minimum standards in their arrangements with the service providers for cash management related activities. The guidelines, inter alia, include the following criteria for the service provider:
- Minimum net worth requirement of Rs. 1 billion.
- Minimum fleet size of 300 specifically fabricated cash vans .
- Cash to be transported only in the owned / leased GPS-enabled security cash vans of the Service Provider or its first level sub-contractors.
- The passenger compartment is to accommodate two custodians and two armed security guards  besides the driver.
- ATM operations are to be carried out only by certified and trained personnel.
- Character and antecedent verification of all crew members associated with cash van movement, should be done meticulously.
- Safe and secure premises of adequate size for cash processing / handling and vaulting with fire safety gadgets.
In order to mitigate risks involved in open cash replenishment/ top-up, RBI vide it’s circular dated 12.4.2018 advised banks to consider using lockable cassettes in their ATMs which should be swapped at the time of cash replenishment. This is to be implemented in a phased manner covering at least one third ATMs operated by the banks every year, such that all ATMs achieve cassette swap by 31.3.2021.
This was stated by Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance in a Written Reply to a Question in RajyaSabha today.
Ministry of Mines
Mineral Production during January 2021 
The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of January, 2021  at 119.7, was 3.7% lower as compared to the level in the month of January, 2020. The cumulative growth for the period April- January, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year has been  10.4 percent.
Production level of important minerals in January, 2021 were: Coal 737 lakh tonnes, Lignite 37 lakh tonnes, Natural gas  2478 million cu. m., Petroleum  26 lakh tonnes, Bauxite 1882 thousand tonnes, Chromite 471 thousand tonnes, Copper conc. 10 thousand tonnes , Gold 92 kg, Iron ore 214 lakh tonnes, Lead conc. 35 thousand tonnes, Manganese ore 270 thousand tonnes, Zinc conc. 150 thousand tonnes, Limestone 344 lakh tonnes, Phosphorite 141 thousand tonnes, Magnesite 7 thousand tonnes and Diamond 0 carat.
The production of important minerals showing positive growth during January, 2021 over January, 2020 include: ‘Zinc conc.’ , ‘Phosphorite’ , ‘Chromite’ , ‘Limestone’  and ‘Manganese Ore’ . The production of other important minerals showing negative growth is: ‘Gold’ [ 42.5%], , ‘Copper conc.’ [ 19.8%], ‘Lignite’ [ 17.8%], ‘Bauxite’ [ 13.6%], ‘Iron ore’ [ 6.6%], ‘Petroleum ’ [ 4.6%], ‘Lead conc.’ [ 2.5%], ‘Natural Gas ’ [ 2.1%] and ‘Coal’ [ 1.8%].
Ministry of Civil Aviation
Pawan Hans Ltd inaugurates multiple helicopter routes in Assam under RCS UDAN
Pawan Hans Ltd. commenced its helicopter services on six routes in the state of Assam on 8th February, 2023. These new helicopter services launched under the RCS UDAN scheme will provide connectivity on the “Dibrugarh-Jorhat-Tezpur-Guwahati-Tezpur-Jorhat-Dibrugarh” network.
The routes will be operated under the following schedule:
|
|
Sector
|
|
Freq.
|
|
Departure
|
|
Arrival
|
|
Dibrugarh
|
|
Jorhat
|
|
M,W,F
|
|
0850 Hrs
|
|
0935 Hrs
|
|
Jorhat
|
|
Tezpur
|
|
M,W,F
|
|
0950 Hrs
|
|
1040 Hrs
|
|
Tezpur
|
|
Guwahati
|
|
M,W,F
|
|
1055 Hrs
|
|
1145 Hrs
|
|
Guwahati
|
|
Tezpur
|
|
M,W,F
|
|
1215 Hrs
|
|
1305 Hrs
|
|
Tezpur
|
|
Jorhat
|
|
M,W,F
|
|
1320 Hrs
|
|
1410 Hrs
|
|
Jorhat
|
|
Dibrugarh
|
|
M,W,F
|
|
1425 Hrs
|
|
1510 Hrs
The RCS UDAN of the Ministry of Civil Aviation is giving special impetus to providing air connectivity to the remote places of the northeastern states which have inadequate rail and road connectivity.
RCS UDAN Helicopter services in the state of Assam will boost Air-connectivity within the State by offering the fastest mode of travel to connect Tezpur, Jorhat, and Dibrugarh from the State capital. The Helicopter services will also play a key role in promoting Tourism activities in the State.
For RCS UDAN Services, Pawan Hans has deployed one Twin Engine Dauphin Helicopter having a seating capacity of up to 11 passengers. RCS UDAN services are being operated under the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India to promote Regional Air-connectivity by offering affordable Airfares.
The inauguration of RCS UDAN Helicopter Operations at Guwahati Airport was done in the presence of Shri Maninder Singh, Addl. Chief Secretary, Govt. of Assam, Shri Kumar Padmapani Bora, Secretary Tourism, Govt. of Assam, Shri SanmukhJugani, Regional Executive Director, AAI, and Shri Sanjay Kumar, General Manager, Pawan Hans.
For booking online tickets of Helicopter, Passengers can book through the Pawan Hans Online portal www.booking.pawanhans.co.in or may visit Pawan Hans Ticketing Offices at respective Airports/ Heliports.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
President promulgates Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code  Ordinance, 2021
The President promulgated the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code  Ordinance, 2021 on 4th April 2021. The Cabinet had approved on 31st March 2021 the proposal to make amendments in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 , through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code  Ordinance, 2021.
The amendments aims to provide an efficient alternative insolvency resolution framework for corporate persons classified as micro, small and medium enterprises  under the Code, for ensuring quicker, cost-effective and value maximising outcomes for all the stakeholders, in a manner which is least disruptive to the continuity of MSMEs businesses and which preserves jobs. The initiative is based on a trust model and the amendments honour the honest MSME owners by trying to ensure that the resolution happens and the company remains with them.
It is expected that the incorporation of Pre-Packaged insolvency resolution process for MSMEs in the Code will alleviate the distress faced by MSMEs due to the impact of the pandemic & the unique nature of their business, duly recognizing their importance in the economy. It provides an efficient alternative insolvency resolution framework for corporate persons classified as MSMEs for timely, efficient & cost-effective resolution of distress thereby ensuring positive signal to debt market, employment preservation, ease of doing business and preservation of enterprise capital. Other expected impact and benefits of the amendment in Code are lesser burden on Adjudicating Authority, assured continuity of business operations for corporate debtor , less process costs & maximum assets realization for financial creditors  and assurance of continued business relation with CD and rights protection for operational Creditors .
The Amendment Ordinance seeks to amend sections such as 4, 5, 11, 33, 34, 61, 65, 77, 208, 239, 240 & insert new sections such as 11A, 67A, 77A and a new chapter as IIIA on Pre-Packaged insolvency resolution process for MSMEs in the Code based on recommendations made by the Insolvency Law Committee . Details of the amendments are given at Annexure I.
Ministry of Railways
Measures taken by Indian Railways to curb illegal e-Ticketing
In order to curb e-ticketing malpractices, a number of preventive and punitive measures have been taken by Indian Railways. Some of the important initiatives taken in this regard, to make IRCTC reservation website, foolproof are as under:
- Instructions have been issued to ensure that tickets are not booked on abbreviated names and full name of the passenger and the surname wherever applicable are captured at the time of booking reserved tickets.
- Carrying of prescribed identity proof has been made compulsory for one of the passengers while undertaking journey in reserved class.
- Regular checks are conducted in mass contact areas such as Passenger Reservation System  centres, booking offices, platforms, trains etc. to prevent unauthorized ticketing activities including the use of scripting software. Such checks are also intensified during peak period like festivals, holidays etc.
- In case of online booking of tickets, checks have been applied on minimum time required to enter the passenger details and CAPTCHA and no ticket can be booked before 35 seconds. User IDs are checked on daily basis and those IDs found using malpractices like fast booking of tickets are deactivated.
- The authorized agents of IRCTC have been restricted from booking tickets during first fifteen minutes of opening the Advance Reservation Period  booking and Tatkal booking.
- General public are also educated through Public Address System and media, not to buy tickets from unscrupulous elements and consequences of buying tickets from these sources.
- Restrictions have been put on creation of IRCTC user ID and booking of tickets per user.
- Dynamic CAPTCHA has been introduced at registration, login and booking page.
- Multilayer security & regular audits by Standardization Testing and Quality Certification .
- A limit of booking 6 Railway tickets by an individual user in a month has been set in case of booking from Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation  portal. This limit has been revised to 12 Railway tickets in a month for those individual users who have linked their IRCTC user ID with their respective Aadhaar number and ensured that at least one of the passengers in the passenger list is verifiable through Aadhaar number.
- Regular drives are being conducted by RPF against persons/agencies found involved in unauthorized carrying on of business of procuring and supplying of railway tickets. The offenders are booked under section 143 of the Railways Act. Cases having wider ramifications and involving ingredients of other offences are being dealt in coordination with other law enforcement agencies like Police & CBI.
- Use of PRABAL query based application for verification of IRCTC IDs to detect the cases of illegal E-ticketing with follow up action.
This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS BY PAKISTAN IN J&K
There have been 3186 incidents of Ceasefire Violations along Line of Control in Jammu region in this year . In addition, 242 incidents of cross-border firing have occurred along Indo-Pak International Border in Jammu region in this year .
There have been 08 fatal casualties and 02 non-fatal casualties of Army personnel occurred in J&K in this year . In addition, there have been 05 non-fatal casualties of BSF personnel occurred along International Border and Line of Control in J&K.
Appropriate retaliation to the ceasefire violations, as required, has been carried out by Indian Army/BSF. In addition, all the cases of ceasefire violations are taken up with Pakistan authorities through the established mechanisms of hotlines, flag meetings, Directorate General of Military Operations talks as well as diplomatic channels between the two countries.
This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Naik in a written reply to Shri CM Ramesh in Rajya Sabha today.
ABB/Nampi/KA/DK
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Ministry of Power
CMD, NHPC lays the foundation stone of head regulator works of Indo-Nepal Link Canal
Shri A.K. Singh, CMD, NHPC, India’s premier hydropower company and a PSU under Ministry of Power, laid the foundation stone of head regulator works of Indo-Nepal Link Canal at Barrage of 94.2 MW Tanakpur Power Station of NHPC located in Banbasa, DisttChampawat  on 8th December 2020. The 1.2 km long Indo-Nepal canal is being constructed under ‘Mahakali Treaty’ signed between India and Nepal.
Shri A.K. Singh , CMD, NHPC laying the foundation stone of head regulator works of Indo-Nepal Link Canal at Barrage of 94.2 MW Tanakpur Power Station of NHPC located in Banbasa, DisttChampawat  on 8th December 2020
Speaking on the occasion, CMD, NHPC said, “NHPC is India’s leading organization for hydropower development. It has the capability to undertake all the activities from conceptualization to commissioning in relation to setting up of hydro projects and has also diversified in the field of Solar and Wind Power.” CMD, NHPC also congratulated all the officers and employees of the power station for record generation since commissioning for FY 2019-20 and also extended his good wishes for the future.
Shri Rajesh Sharma, Executive Director, Regional Office, Chandigarh and Shri Suresh Kumar Sharma, GM , Tanakpur Power Station were also present on the occasion alongwith other senior officers and employees. Shri A.K. Singh, CMD, NHPC is currently on inspection tour to NHPC’s 94.2 MW Tanakpur Power Station.